A Hero's Nightmare
by Jvictoria
Summary: Peace has been brought back to he land of Hyrule, but our Hero is having a hard time freeing himself from his memories. Set ofter Twilight Princess. M rating for possible gore and adult themes later in the story.
1. Chapter 1

Link, the great and mighty hero of Hyrule and the Hylian people, sat upon a fence in his home village, chewing on a particularly long stem of sweet-grass as he looked over the goats in the field. It was so calm, so serene. But images of lived nightmares were flashing through his head whenever he closed his eyes. It had been quite some time since his adventuring had ended. He'd been ready to come back to the village and stay there, living his life as though none of the bad had ever happened. But it had and he couldn't help but feel like he would be more useful elsewhere. After all, Auru was re-training the army of the newly crowned queen, Zelda. With him was Russle, training half the time, the rest of the time being spent with his wife and kids. Ashei was a high standing warrior beneath the queen who traveled freely through the land and brought or sent news back to the capitol. Also working beneath the queen was the ever exuberant Shad. He'd questioned Link so many times about how he'd moved that cannon without anyone noticing or helping, but Link had simply smiled and told him it was a secret. He imagined that the only reason he'd been let off the hook was that he'd been so tired after everything.

He whistled to Epona, seeing the sun sliding down the sky toward the horizon. At this time where the day turned to night he had to be doing something, concentrate on something. There had been too many times where his mind had taken him somewhere he didn't want to be. There were too many memories of the sky being peach and blue, black and purple, like a bruise that lasted only a short time, but left pain for far longer. Mounting up, he whooped at the goats, sending them into the barn for the night. He would have to talk to Mayor Bo. He wasn't going to be able to carry out the life they'd planned out for him. He'd been fully ready to take over as Mayor before and he'd had no qualm with it. But now something within him had changed. He hadn't felt the changes when they happened, probably because of all of the injuries he'd received when it happened, but now that he could stop and think about it, he felt it.

Locking the gate to keep the goats in for the night, he looked up. The dark plum sky was quickly filling with clouds, a storm ruffling the leaves in the trees. He began toward the fence again, but paused as something orange caught his attention. He stared into the darkness, but nothing was there. He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was still tired? He shook his head and mounted Epona. She had to be tethered and tented before it began to rain. He wouldn't let her get sick with chill because of his negligence.

~*~*~*~

A short time later, the young man was finished removing the saddle, bridle, and reins from her sweaty coat. He'd already put up the tent that surrounded on all sides and was beginning to brush her down. The sound of thunder rumbled distantly. He petted her gently, more for his own comfort than hers. She'd been through enough to know that a storm wouldn't hurt her. He pressed his face into her mane, gathering the soft strands between his fingers for a moment. She nuzzled him slightly, as though concerned. He chuckled and kissed her nose lightly, patting the star between her eyes that was only slightly lighter than the rest of her rust coat. This silent assurance didn't do much, but she let it go. She really couldn't do much, after all. He brushed her slowly, letting his mind close as he went through the automatic movements.

Soon he looked up, just realizing that the rain was pelting the top of the waterproof cloth over Epona loudly. He hadn't expected it to be this harsh. He patted her one more time and peeked through the flap of the tent. He could barely see anything. He couldn't hear anything either, not over the sound of the rain. He sighed and looked back at Epona. He didn't want her to get cold. He grabbed the riding blanket and settled it over her. Again he peered out the flap, then froze.

Without thought he darted out of the tent, taking off after that orange flame of hair disappearing into the forest. Was he seeing things? Was he crazy? He could barely feel the frigid rain running along his skin through his clothes, his hair plastered against his head. He ran further and further away from the village along the path. He passed Ordona's Spring, not even noticing as his feet moved along the slicked wood of the bridge. He ran on and on, his chest heaving as the ran got in his mouth, dripping down his face and burning his eyes. He could just barely see the flash of red with golden tips. He ran faster.

The rain began to slow and Link lost sight of his quarry. Trying to speed up, the man suddenly found himself face first in a puddle of mud. He hurriedly sat up again to look and see if he could find that tiny flicker of hair or flash of dark cloak. There was nothing. He heaved, trying to drag air into his burning chest. Now it occurred to him, wondering how far he'd run and where he was. He couldn't see anything still, a fog having surrounded him. He shuddered, the chill in the autumn air feeling harsh to the utmost degree with the heat of his body so high from running. The cold wind hit his drenched body and moved right through him, freezing him to the core. He let out a shuddering gasp and curled around himself. Was that a light in the sky to the east? Or was he imagining things? Just how long had he been running? And why didn't he see the pattern of trees through the fog? He knelt there, looking around and trying to regain his bearings despite the cold, feeling that he was farther from home than he should have been. From one side, two shadows appeared in the fog. He stared, tired eyes becoming fuzzy. The shadows paused, as though they'd seen him too. Then a voice came from the smaller shadow, nearly half the size of its partner.

"You're Link, yeah?"


	2. Chapter 2

"You found him where!?" cried the voice of the bar propriatess just as Russl was opening the door. He shook his head for a moment at the ringing in his ears before he realized that he was looking in on Telma and Ashei. The latter had her fingers in her ears but was making no face at the older woman's tone.

"I told you, yeah?" she said, "he was in West Hyrule Field." The goron beside her nodded.

"It was raining just before," he said, "but he didn't have any gear. Not even a sword."

"Looked half dead when we found him in the fog," Ashei broke in again. The man's brows knit as he heard this.

"Who did you find?" he asked, "what's wrong?" Telma turned to look at him with wide, unbelieving eyes. She struggled for words for a moment before she hurried from the bar.

"Bar's closed!" Ashei pressed a hand to her forehead.

"I made the mistake of telling her where we found Link, yeah?" she said. Russl's stomach clenched.

"Link?" he repeated, "he was only reported missing from home this morning... without his horse. When did you find him?"

"The sun was about to rise," the goron said, looking to Ashei for confirmation. Russle's heart leaped into his throat.

"To make that distance from after sunset to sunrise, he'd have had to run full out all night without stop!" he said in surprise, "where is he?"

"He's at the inn in Kakariko," the goron informed him, "we brought him there when he could barely stand. By how tired he seemed, I wouldn't doubt that he'd run for three days straight, much less a single night. That's likely where Telma was headed so fast." Russle turned and headed after the bar propriatess, the need to see the youth and make sure he was safe too strong to fight.

"Please tell Auru where I am going!" And with that he was gone out the door.

~*~*~*~

Demons and death danced with Link's loved ones in his mind, mixed with the clouds of shadowy twilight and flames. He was without a sword and shield, none of the things he'd gathered on his journey with him. Epona reared, hooves kicking for the sky, flaming arrows flying past like shooting stars, lighting her gorgeous mane and rusty coat like metal fire set alight by the sun. Colin, Beth, Malo and Talo stood strong against their attackers with sticks and toys, but the blackness singed at their clothes and skin, drawing shining tears of pain down their cheeks and glistening drops of red splashed into the air. Ilia lay by Epona's hooves, perfectly still, though her eyes were side in shock. Link tried to run to them, the darkness grabbing at his hands and feet and holding him immobile. He tried to break free, but a familiar voice made him hesitate. The hand on his wrist was dark and small. Midna hovered there, glowing hair blotting out the light of a distant sun. The hand on his other side squeezed painfully and he turned to find Midna the princess staring back at him with intent eyes. She touched him gently, but it felt as though a hot brand had been pressed against his skin. He cried out wordlessly in agony.

~*~*~*~

Renado nearly jumped out of his skin as the blond began to shout in his sleep. Luda appeared at the door instantly, bearing cloth, water, and various herbal mixtures. The dark man held on to Link's arms as he lashed out, keeping him tightly against the bed so as not to injure himself.

"Luda, the medicine!" he told his daughter. She was already on the blond's other side, dripping the liquid into Link's mouth via a cloth drenched in it. The shaman clenched his teeth at the boy's strength, his arms already getting tired. A set of rock hands appeared at both wrists, holding the traveler and hero safe from himself for the moment. Renado looked up in surprise. Two young but strong gorons had appeared to assist. The shaman pressed a hand to Link's chest, wincing as he felt the rumbles of pained cries. He was surprised when he drew his hand back hand found blood. Link had gouged a hold in his chest. Why hadn't he noticed the blood on his hands before? He took a dry cloth from Luda and pressed it to the bleeding cuts.

It took Link several turns of the glass to finally calm again, the medicine kicking in and letting him sleep somewhat more calmly. Renado sighed in relief an motioned Luda to keep an eye on him. He was going after some air. She nodded and set by his bed, calmly stirring another bowl of herbs. As he left the front door, Renado found himself staring into the eyes of a Hylian who was either angry, worried, or both. Telma almost pushed past him to head upstairs, but he grabbed her arm.

"Where is he?" she asked, "is he alright?" Renado motioned her to follow him outside. He'd rather the inside of the inn stay as quiet as possible. Telma allowed him to steer her back out and away from the building, but let him know that she wasn't happy about it at all. When she thought that they were far enough away from the inn, she looked at him with eyes filled by a mixture of anger, sadness and worry.

"What happened to him?" she asked, "is he going to be alright? Why--" he cut her off by raising his hand in the air.

"I can't tell you how he got there," he said, "but it seems that something is riding on his mind. Something is worrying him and he can't seem to let it go. He ran for hours in the cold, which explains the mucus in his lungs, but his nightmares... I didn't think---" he could say nothing more to this. Had he really thought that Link was so jaded that the events of his past would not bother him? And what exactly had he seen that had him crying out in his sleep?. He looked at Telma again with saddened eyes. "I can heal his body with time, but I don't know if there is a way to heal his heart and mind." Telma grimaced.

"You speak as though he's not strong enough to fight through this on his own," she said, "he may be young, but he is powerful." The shaman shook his head.

"He may be powerful in body, and his courage helps him," he said, "but courage alone is not enough to protect your mind from the world around you."


End file.
